City leaders hope to capitalize on media spotlight during DNC

CHARLOTTE - Charlotte is already getting bombarded with media attention and the Democratic National Convention hasn't even started.

This week, The New York Times focused on the city’s cuisine and noted there's a long, growing list of quality restaurants.

The Boston Globe looked at the "finance, fine art and fast cars" and told visitors "you won't lack for action."

CNN added a list of popular Charlotte attractions to its website.

That's just the beginning. Charlotte Chamber President Bob Morgan told Eyewitness News he's also recently been interviewed by The Atlantic, Bloomberg and The Associated Press for pieces that will run in the coming days.

"Most people come in with the idea, 'We know you're a banking center, but what more are you?"” Morgan said.

He said most reporters ask some of the same questions: " Why Charlotte? Why did the Democrats pick Charlotte for the convention? Why is Charlotte the fastest-growing metropolitan area in the US?"

Next week, Morgan is scheduled for several other interviews, including live interviews on Fox Business Channel and C-SPAN.

Not all press has been positive. Reuters recently referenced Charlotte as a "second-tier host city" that has few cultural attractions.

Mayor Anthony Foxx dismissed the idea and said people will change their minds once they get here. Channel 9 tweeted the author of the article asking if he'd been to Charlotte and he said he hadn’t.

Morgan is convinced the media blitz will benefit Charlotte for years to come.

"For those who don't know us, they're going to hear about us in the next couple of weeks. That can only be positive," he said.

Eyewitness News spoke with the Chamber of Commerce in Denver, the site of the previous Democratic National Convention, to see if its economy benefited because of the DNC.

They said it's impossible to say for sure, but they did hear about companies looking to relocate there and said Denver came onto their radar because of the convention.